To Die For
by Geddy Lee
Summary: Sequel to Always With Me, Always With You. Serj does everything in his power to bring back Prototype and relive the glory that Link once gave. But where in the world are you supposed to find a guitarist that was able to match Link's caliber?
1. Chapter 1

At long last, I have returned with the sequel to Always With Me, Always With You!!! I'm sorry it took me so damn long. Five days after I posted the final chapter for the last fic, I got in a nasty car wreck and got to spend a little time in jail. THAT was so much fun. Since then I've just been dealing with lots of different things. Band stuff, work stuff, you know how it goes. Well, I hope you enjoy this sequel. I intend to make worth your while. Here it is, in all its glory. As always, read, review, ENJOY!

To Die For

Chapter 1

Things could be better, I have to say. The gigs are pathetic, money is short… Being a musician for a living is a lot harder than I would have ever thought. Link tried to teach me that back in school, but I guess I just didn't want to learn.

Sadly, I'm rather disappointed with my guitar playing. Pathetic, huh? I can do solos and carry rhythms, but half the time the rhythms are choppy and the solos… well… that's a whole nother world. It's almost like I can't do them. I mean… I can, but I have to leave out notes in certain songs just to be able to let my left hand catch up. That's sad as a guitar player… Well, we'll see how things roll.

Serj Green- 2012

The orange florescent lights whizzed by in pulses as Serj drove down the long road to the San Demas Airport. He rubbed his hand through his hair and yawned a bit as his music beat softly in his car. It was the recording of his show with Prototype in New York City back in 2006.

He found it fairly hard to believe that six years had already gone by since Link had passed away. His suicide had taken its toll on a lot of people. Even people that lived in completely different states knew about it. Apparently, word had gotten around (most likely from Dennis) about Prototype. The fact that a group of high school guys traveled halfway across the country to put on a show that even the greatest bands would consider great was, well, amazing to say the least.

They were all very good at what they did, but Link was in his own world. At the age of eighteen, he was giving people like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and John 5 a run for their money. He had the potential to be the greatest guitar player to ever walk the face of the earth…

Sadly, because of a few people screwing up in a few place, the guitar god ended up overdosing, never to be reckoned with again. Serj still hated himself to that day, six years after the fact. He was the one cause that did it. Serj felt like a murder to a certain extent.

Luckily though, Mido and Kafei remained with him. The band still went on, in more of Link's memory that anything else. It was more than hard though. Prototype had faded into obscurity after Link died. Ser was a fantastic guitarist, but nothing like Link. In the end, the three guys had to admit that they could never be what they were with Link being gone. Thing is, with death… There is no turning back.

Serj yawned again as he pulled up to the side of the baggage claim at the main junction in the airport. He could see her… A tall woman, with long, shiny golden hair. A sharp and gorgeous face, with a body that killed. The kindest girl he would ever know… his sister.

Zelda smiled as he pulled up next to her. Serj opened the door and grinned at her as she picked up her bags.

"Put those down, I'll carry them," Serj stated as he walked over to her.

"Such a gentleman," she replied jokingly.

Serj held his arms open and embraced his sister in a good old fashioned long-time-no-see hug. He hadn't seen his sister in three years, and it felt great just to be around her again. She had a certain aura about her that just always made him happy.

After driving off out of the dark, busy airport, they began chatting like crazy to do a lot of overdue catching up. Zelda certainly had grown up in the last three years. She was no longer the young girl he once knew.

"So how's the band?" she asked after about half an hour of driving and jabbering.

"Rough, as always…"

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"However, we do have an idea that might be able to bring us back. It's a long shot… but…"

"What?!" Zelda cut in.

"Bringing back all of the old original Prototype songs," he stated, not sounding very confident.

"Good luck with that," she scoffed.

"Thanks," he shot back.

"Sorry, I'm not trying to be rude. But… Trying to play Link's old guitar riffs? You'll have a lot of work ahead of you."

"I know. Honestly, as great as the idea sounds, I know I can't play his stuff. I don't even have the desire to get that good. It must have taken him every waking hour he had to get that good," Serj said solemnly.

Zelda didn't reply. She just stared out the window into the night, watching the passing cars and lights. Serj knew what was on her mind.

"You ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine…"

"You're a bad liar, you know that," he stated.

"I know, I'm sorry. It's just hard to talk about him," she explained.

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. It's not like you're the one that drove him to kill himself," he tried to comfort.

"Yeah, it is…"

"Out of curiosity… why did you lie to him in the graveyard that day?" he asked, looking over at her.

"I… I still don't know. I suppose I was just scared," she replied, continually staring out the window.

Serj sighed a bit. He and his Zelda had gotten to be very close since Link passed away. He was glad that he was so close to her, but he hated the fact that it had to be over something such as his best friend dying.

"Hey, I've got good news for you. I was so glad that you were moving back in, I decided to do something really cool this weekend. I went ahead and booked us a couple of plane tickets for Friday," he began in a change of subject.

"Ugh, I just got off a plane," she groaned, turning her head and looking at him.

"Come on, you'll love it, I know you will," he egged on.

"Alright, fine, where is it?" she asked, a little annoyed.

"Austin baby! Eric Johnson is playing at Austin City Limits on Saturday!" he exclaimed, knowing that Eric Johnson was her favorite guitarist.

"No way!" she squealed in surprise.

"Hell yeah. And we're both going to be there. I already got the time off work and everything."

"Wow, that's pretty freaking cool. Thanks for that," she said happily.

"Yeah, I figured you would like that. I'm just glad that you moved back home. I didn't think you would last as long as you did in New York all by yourself," he stated.

"Yeah, that's funny, me neither. Hey, you know, maybe you'll be able to find yourself a really good guitar player out in Austin. It's a much bigger thriving music scene than San Demas is," she suggested.

"You know, I just might be able too. Surely someone in Austin has heard about Prototype. We were big for a little while, even after the whole thing with Link," he agreed.

"Well, there you go."

Serj pondered it as he drove down one of the back roads to his house. It really was a good idea. Austin had to have some good guitarists out there. A lot of famous people had come from the bustling musical town. Eric Johnson, Pantera, Los Lonely Boys, and many, many others. By the time he stopped thinking about it, he realized that he was already at his house.

"Wow, nice pad," Zelda stated as she stepped out of his car.

"Yeah, it's a pretty nice place. Not exactly what dad's place was, but it suits me just fine.

His house was a neat two story house. It looked very old fashioned, but well kept up with it. It was painted dark blue color, with many windows lining the bottom and top floors. You could tell there was a basement in the house as well, since there were windows that basically sat right on the foundation of the house.

He grabbed all of her bags from the trunk of his small blue Saturn SC-1 and headed up the driveway to the front steps. Grabbing the keys from his pocket, unlocked the door and threw it open. He loved his house a lot.

In the living room, he basically had a studio built up. Mido's drum set sat in the corner over by a set of windows, while Kafei's bass and amps were set up directly across from Mido's gear. Serj's stuff however was closer to the kitchen for easier beer access.

"Don't you ever have any complaints from the neighbors about the noise?" Zelda asked.

"No, I had the whole house triple insulated," he stated, setting her things down at the top of the staircase. "Here, let me show you where you'll be sleeping."

He took her down the hall of the upstairs and to the very last door. Swinging it open, he revealed a pretty large sized room, with a bathroom and shower in it. It basically was a master bedroom, but it seemed all the rooms had these features.

"Wow, this is bigger that my apartment," Zelda exclaimed.

"That's kind of sad… no offense. So, how long do you plan on staying here?" he inquired.

"Oh, I thought I was just going to live with you," she said, kind of shocked by the question.

"Oh, great! I could use the company. I get kind of lonely sometimes."

The rest of their night consisted of watching movies and drinking. Zelda of course being the lightweight of the two just had a few Smirnoff's, while Serj went with his favorite beer. They sat there and talked for hours while watching different movies before the sleepiness hit them. Parting their ways, Serj headed up to his room and laid down in his waterbed, which jiggled a bit as he crashed onto the cent of the bubbly mass. Practice was going to kick ass the next day…

"I don't know about all that man," Mido's deep voice stated.

"You really think that a guitar player that lives thousands of miles away is going to be apt to just up and leaving Austin to come play with us?" Kafei asked.

"Austin is one of the largest music communities in the country guys. I hate to say it, but I really don't think I can hang with those old songs. I can do the rhythms with not much of a problem, but Link's solos? No way man. Besides, any serious guitar player would jump at the opportunity to be with a well established band," Serj tried to explain.

"Have you even tried to play any of Link's old solo's?" Kafei asked.

"No way man! I'm too scared," Serj chuckled.

"Well, if you think you've got a shot at it, go for it. Won't hurt, huh?" Mido said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Well, while we're at it, might as well work on some of the stuff we've started writing. I've had a few different ideas going around lately," said Serj.

Mido and Kafei nodded. Mido enjoyed playing with Serj, but on the other hand… well… He just wasn't Link. His style was totally different, and his chops were nothing compared to Link's. It had been a downer for him the past six years, but he wasn't about to abandon the band he had started so many years ago. It was like his tribute to Link after all.

Zelda awoke once Mido began the drum intro to one of their newest songs. She rubbed her eyes as the music pounded into her head. She wasn't happy about being woken up, but she loved the music her brother's band played, Link or no Link.

Shaking her head a bit, she slowly stepped out of her bed and opened the door to her bathroom. Turning on the warm water, she stepped into the shower, letting the calming water wash over her. Rubbing some shampoo into her hair, it took her a minute to realize that Mido and Kafei were out in the living.

She wasn't too bright, but was even dumber when she first woke up in the morning. Quickly scrubbing the shampoo out of her hair, she then rapidly rubbed a bar of soap over her body. Jumping out of the shower, she dried herself off with a towel and swiftly threw on a short pair of jean shorts and a vanilla tank top.

She left her room just as Serj played the last note of the song. She rushed into the living room to see that Mido was just standing up from his drum set. He was nearly smashed into the wall as she threw herself into him with a hug.

"Hey girl, I forgot you came into town already!" Mido grunted, trying to keep his balance.

"You forgot about me?" she asked solemnly.

"Oh give me a break, you know me," Mido replied sarcastically.

Giving Kafei a hug as well, she felt so much better just being able to see her old high school friends again. Granted, the only year she had with them was nothing but sheer and utter drama, but, she really didn't care.

She spent the next few days before she had to leave for Austin going around town and visiting her old high school friends. Saving the best for last, Malon.

As she pulled up in front of the red-heads house, she sighed a bit. It had been too long. She hadn't even been able to keep in contact with Malon since she left to live in New York for a while. She wondered as she walked up to the door what the girl had been up to. At first she wondered if Malon still even lived there, but the bright pink car in the front of the house kind of tipped her off that is was still the same ole Malon.

Taking a deep breath, she rang the door bell and waited. She smiled and became a little antsy when she heard footsteps heading down the stairs. She was rather surprised when a young man about her age opened the door with a beer bottle and a joint in his hand. Frowning a bit, he looked at her oddly and squinted his eyes.

"Can I help you?" he asked in a very monotone voice.

"Um, yeah, I'm sorry. Does Malon live here still?" she asked, still in shock.

"Yeah…" said the guy gruffly and turned around.

As he walked up the stairs, he yelled Malon's name at the top of his lungs. His bare naked back was bruised like crazy, and it looks like there were cuts and scrapes from something very sharp. Zelda really didn't feel comfortable.

Her heart lightened when she was able to see Malon at the top of the stairs peering down to see who it was.

"Oh my god, Zelda!"

With that, Malon tore down the stairs at full speed. Zelda smiled as she caught Malon and reduced her speed. She could tell Malon was crying a bit as she held her best friend in her arms.

"Oh, my god! I can't believe you're here! What are you doing back in town?" she fluttered, wiping some tears from her eyes.

"I got homesick," Zelda stated simply.

"So, you live here again?" Malon inquired.

"Yeah, I'm living with Serj."

After more hugs and all that happy stuff, Malon went inside and put on a pair of sandals and a khaki jacket.

"Babe, I'm leaving for a little while," Malon called as she was about to go out the front door.

"Where the fuck are you going?!" the man bellowed at the top of his lungs from the other side of the house.

Malon quickly slammed the door shut and hurried to Zelda's car, eagerly tugging at the handle to get in. Zelda unlocked it and Malon was in the seat like a bat out of hell. Zelda knew something bad was going on.

"Who is that?" Zelda asked as they drove away from the house.

"My boy friend…" she replied sadly.

"I'm, guessing things aren't going to well?"

"They were fine until her started drinking all the time and selling drugs. Now all he does is hits me, drinks, smokes weed, and goes to bars and gets the shit beat out of him. I want to get away from him so bad," she explained, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Why don't you just leave?" Zelda asked.

"I can't. He's always home since his job is being a drug dealer. The only time he's gone is when he goes to bars after I go to sleep. Besides, if I left, he would just hunt me down and like rape me or something. He's only with me because I have a car and a vagina. And boobs… don't forget those…"

The two girls went all over town shopping, hitting up coffee shops, book stores, anything they could think of. Zelda just wanted for Malon to feel a little better about things. But she that whenever Malon would start to feel better, she then realized that she still had to go home sometime. Zelda hated to see things this way…

"Malon, why don't you just stay with me and Serj for a while? You need to get out of there. If he tries anything, you know Serj will take care of him. He's great like that," Zelda suggested.

"He'll find me though…"

"Malon. How? There's no way. He has no idea who me or my brother are, much less know where we live," Zelda stated, a little more forcefully this time.

"You don't think Serj would mind?" Malon asked, very hopeful.

"No. Actually, he told me a few years ago that back in high school he had a thing for you, ha! I really don't think he'll mind."

Malon laughed at the thought. Serj huh? Sheesh, if she had known that way back when, she would have gone for it! Those few days blew by like they were nothing. It was soon to leave for Austin. Both Zelda and Serj were very excited. Zelda because she was going on a trip with her brother and going to see Eric Johnson. Serj… well, you can guess. This may be the chance he needed to get the band going again at full speed. Someone in Austin had to be at least as good if not better than Link.


	2. Chapter 2

Alright, before I begin writing this, I must do something very important. Cut my damn fingernails……. Now that I've taken care of that, I had a thought a couple hours ago. For those of you who have Lime wire or whatever, you can download songs. For each chapter I write, I'm going to post a new song that you should download. I always listen to music to help me captivate a better meaning of the story. It also helps me concentrate more. You know the drill. Read, review, enjoy.

Song: Vertigo / as performed by John 5

Chapter 2

"I hate planes…" Zelda whined as she sat down in her seat by the window.

"They're not that bad," Serj stated, in a as-a-matter-of-factly tone.

"You just don't get sometimes, do you?"

"No, I guess not," he replied, stuffing the rest of their baggage in the compartment above the seats.

"Remember when we went to New York?" she reminisced.

"Oh get over it already would you? It's done with and in the past," he muttered as he threw himself down in the seat next to her.

"Fine, I'll shut up."

It was now three in the morning, just about time for them to take off. The whole thing that happened with Link six years ago wasn't the only thing that bugged her about planes. After her mom died in a car crash, she trusted the safety of planes less and less.

Serj rolled his eyes a bit as his sister stared out the window, watching all of the passing landing strip lights pass. Serj slid a set of headphones over his ears and flicked on his Ipod. He knew that listening to John 5's Damaged wasn't the best thing to listen as he was reaching thousands of feet in the air, but he liked the song too much.

It was a good five hours before they were to reach Austin. Hotel reservations had already been made. They had already planned to do as little as possible that day, maybe go see a movie or hit one of the local malls. For some reason, plane rides wore Serj out.

Zelda wasn't too great at getting up that early in the morning, so it didn't take her too long fall asleep. Her eyelids became heavy and he eyes weary. She drifted off into deep slumber after just a few moments time.

"_Check this one out."_

_Fingers flew about the fretboard like a spider dancing about on hot coals. His fingers moved so fast you couldn't hardly even tell what was going on. It was more like a blur fluttered about on the soft maple wood. _

"_That's incredible," she said. _

"_Thanks. I came up with it over the last couple weeks. I like it a lot… it's got some good flare too it, don't you think?"_

"_Yeah, it really does."_

_It was Link. Zelda was beside him. They were in a park somewhere; somewhere she had never been. The leaves whistled by softly, and the trees billowed with soft wind. There was a slight breeze that lightly brushed her hair over her face. There was no one else there…_

_Just her and Link. Just the way that she had always thought things should have been. He sat there with an acoustic guitar propped up against his chest, his fingers still furiously blazing about; his face in deep concentration as the god played the masterful melody. _

_He finally stopped and set his guitar down in the soft grass next to the tree that they leaned up against. She smiled at him. Nothing else in the world mattered now. She was there with him. The one she loved. She could feel them getting closer… closer… closer…_

Zelda lurched forward suddenly. Her mind spun with so many things as she heard screams and shouts. Her brother was not beside her. What was going on? No, not Serj… Link this time…

He was covered in blood, his eyes and mouth wide open. Zelda shook him crazily as tears began to run down her rosy cheeks.

She screamed his name over and over again. Fire burst from the other side of the plane, creating a gaping hole. Passengers screamed and cried as they were sucked out into the dark night. She clutched onto Link's shirt as the hole widened and the plane spun down towards the earth below. With all her might, she was not strong enough to keep him near. He too soon followed the rest of the passengers.

True terror set into the pit of her stomach. He was gone. Everyone was gone. She was the only one left. All alone. Another tear ran down her face as the flames engulfed her…

"Zelda!"

Zelda jumped up at the sound of her voice. She frantically looked around, her eyes darting from seat to seat. Everything was fine. The passengers were still there, her brother at her side. No fire, no holes, no death… no Link.

"We're here finally," Serj informed, his hand on her shoulder.

She quickly wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him to the point to where he was about to pop. She sobbed like none other, so glad her brother was right there with her. Serj gasped for air as the bear hug choked the oxygen out of his lungs.

"Zelda? What's wrong?" he worriedly asked through gasps of air.

"Can we get off this thing yet?" she cried.

Serj hurriedly grabbed their things and jetted out of the plane quickly. He was starting to get worried, real worried. The moment they were out of the terminal, she sat down in the nearest chair and put her hands in her face. She wasn't sobbing like crazy anymore, but she was still crying a bit. Serj threw the baggage down in the chair next to her and got down on one knee in front of her.

"Zelda, what the fuck?" he pushed, wanting to know what was going on.

"I… I… need some water," she stuttered through her cries.

Serj looked around the airport quickly and noticed a vending machine. Quickly walking over to it, he rapidly dug around in his pocket for some spare change. Quickly stuffing the quarters in the machine, he nabbed a bottle of water and walked back over to his sister. He was beginning to feel a little antsy with all the people staring at his sister.

Taking a seat in the chair next to her that wasn't cramped with luggage, he popped open the bottle and handed it to her. Zelda's crying had stopped. Now, she just sat there, her face still buried in her hands and her hair in a mess. Tapping her shoulder with the bottle, he gestured for her to take the cool liquid.

Looking up from her hands with red eyes, Zelda took the bottle and drank a bit of the fresh water. Putting the bottle up against her neck to cool herself off, she leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes. Sighing heavily, she felt a little better than she had before.

"You gonna talk to me now?" Serj asked, becoming a little impatient.

"Just a really bad nightmare, don't worry about it," she replied.

"That was one hell of a nightmare. What was it?" he inquired.

"I was in a park… it was so peaceful. Just me and Link. It was the greatest feeling ever…"

"Doesn't sound too bad to me."

"Suddenly, I was back on the plane. Link was next to me, but… he was dead. Suddenly the plane exploded. Everyone started getting sucked out. I was the only one left until the fire got to me…"

Serj sat there a minute. What the hell do you say to something like that? He really had no idea what to do.

"That's pretty intense. Is there anything I can do?" he asked, not knowing what to say at all.

"Just get me to the hotel," she replied.

Serj nodded. He left her with all of their things while he went to nab a rental car. After making all the reservations he needed, he headed back to help his sister get all of the things and make their way through the busy airport to the rental area.

Their Chevy Cavalier awaited them with the attendant standing right next to him. Handing him the keys, the attendant whished them a good day and headed back into the airport.

As soon as Serj began driving down the road to the hotel, Zelda fell asleep again. Now he didn't even want her to sleep. If she was going to go through that sort of a hellish nightmare again, what was the point.

He himself was pretty tired too. It took a good thirty minutes to get through all the morning traffic in the busy city of Austin. Serj had bad road rage, so by the time he parked at the hotel, he was furious.

He awoke Zelda and led her into the room they were to stay in. By the time he came back to the room from getting the luggage out of the car, she was already asleep again. Frowning a bit, he shrugged it off and set all of their bags down next to the bathroom door. He climbed in the bed with his sister to get a bit of sleep as well. At least if he was that close to her, he would awake if she started spazzing out in her sleep again.

By the time he woke up, it was already dark outside. He found it tough to believe that he had been asleep for such a long time, but didn't really give a shit. He had wanted to sleep the whole day off anyways. He noticed that Zelda hadn't moved at all since he had gone to sleep. Not even a single strand of hair had moved on her head. Checking her pulse so make sure she was still breathing, he picked up his cell phone.

He felt a little stupid checking his sister's pulse, but hey. He had to watch out for her, eh? Searching through the call list in his phone, he dialed Mido's number.

"Yeah," Mido answered.

"Hey man, what's up," Serj asked.

"Not much, just watching a movie with the wife," Mido replied, referring to Saria.

"That's cool, what movie?"

"Final Destination."

This sent chills down Serj's spine. The fact that he and his sister had gotten off of flight 181 made things a little creepy, considering Zelda's weird dream. Shaking the thought out of his mind, he explained to Mido what happened.

"Dude, that's pretty weird," Mido stated, a little creeped out.

"Yeah, tell me about it. Kind of makes me wonder if something is going on with her. I'm not saying she's crazy or anything, but like you said, it's pretty weird," Serj concurred.

"Hm. Well, let me know how that concert goes man. And keep me posted on Zelda if anything else happens."

"Will do."

"Ight, later man."

"Later," Serj said before shutting his phone.

He sighed a bit as he looked around the almost pitch black room. As he sat on the edge of the hard hotel bed, he began to wonder if the dream meant something, or if it was just your average bad nightmare. Either way, it was creepy.

He turned his head over his shoulder and looked at his sister. Just like sleeping beauty. With another sigh, he gave a slight smile before pulling the blankets back over him and closing his eyes for another good nights sleep.

Well, if you haven't seen Final Destination, that last bit wouldn't have made much sense. So if you haven't seen it, I suggest you go watch it. Ha, well, I know this chapter was way the hell out there and doesn't make much sense now. But you all know me… Things develop slowly, but always make sense later. Well, send those reviews fast, I need them to get those juices flowing. Just about all of my last reviews stated that you were all curious as to how I'll pull this one off without Link in there. But never fear. Have I ever let you down?


	3. Chapter 3

Alrighty then. Here's numero 3. This one's pretty long. Some pretty cool stuff is in this chapter, I think you'll really enjoy it. You know the drill. Have fun.

I Won't See You Tonight Part 1: Avenged Sevenfold

There's your song for the chap

Chapter 3

Serj woke the next morning to the sound of a blow drier. Groaning a bit, he threw the blankets over his head and stuff his face into the pillow to help block out the annoying sound. He had slept a lot, but he still hated being woken up.

"Get up lazy," Zelda snapped as she threw a hairbrush at him.

"What time is it?" he asked, his voice a little muffled from the pillow.

"It's already ten, get up," she demanded as she set down the blow drier.

Growling a little bit, he tossed the blankets off of his body and sat up. Rubbing his eyes a bit, he looked around the room. Zelda seemed fine. She was standing in front of the mirror brushing her hair with the brush that she hadn't thrown yet.

"You sleep ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, just fine," she replied, tugging at a tangle in her golden hair.

"Any more nightmares?"

"If I had any, I don't remember them," she stated in a sure voice.

"That's good…"

He then grabbed a spare set of clothes and headed for the shower. He was rather surprised that Zelda had awoken before he had, but it's not like it really mattered too much. After showering quickly, he dried himself off with a nearby towel and dressed himself.

Zelda was waiting for him impatiently on the bed. She had the TV turned to the weather channel, which showed that they were in for some sunny days. Serj never really trusted the weather channel though. It wasn't exactly the most accurate thing in the world.

"You sure do seem fired up," Serj stated as he scrubbed his hair with gel.

"We're only here for another three days. I'd like to make the most of it, you know?" she replied as she stood up from the bed and flicked the TV off.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Do you have any plans then smart guy?"

"First off, last time I checked, I'm still female. Secondly, yes, I do. And actually, it's to help you out," she explained, crossing her arms in a smart fashion.

"Oh really? And what could that be dearest sister?" Serj asked as he grabbed the keys he had from the nightstand.

"I of course MUST go to the mall and find some new clothes. I also think it would be a good idea to go to the Guitar Center and scope out guitarists until we have to go to the concert."

"I see said the blind man, as he picked up his hammer and saw," Serj joked, opening the door.

"You corny bastard…"

They got in the car and headed down the busy roads of downtown Austin. The sun shone bright and burned through the car like hot coals on a plastic wrapper. Serj noticed about a thousand different malls, but didn't really know which one to stop at. It's not like he was in dire need of getting more clothes. That was a woman thing to him…

"Just pick one, I don't really care," Zelda growled, aggravated as her brother's indecisiveness.

"Alright, fine," he muttered as he turned the car into the nearest mall just to his right.

San Demas had some pretty nice malls, but this was ridiculous. The place was bigger than about fifty Wal-Mart's combined. He wondered how anyone could even find something to buy there, considering the fact that it would take a whole day just to walk from one end of the other. Serj knew that he would be broke by the time he left this massive travesty…

"What do you think of this?" Zelda asked as she held up a skirt to her waist.

Serj was sitting in a chair just outside one of the dressing rooms, his head leaning up against his right fist. Boredom had struck like none other. He wasn't really expecting things to be like shopping with your girlfriend or your mom.

"Looks kind of slutty," Serj answered with a yawn.

"Uh, hello. Slutty and vintage are the trendy things these days," Zelda smarted off.

"I'm not saying don't buy it. I'm just saying that the only thing you need now is a pair of knee high boots to complete your hooker outfit."

Zelda rolled her eyes and returned to the dressing room. Serj hated doing this with his sister. How is it you're supposed to tell your sister if something looks good on her. Sure, they were close siblings, but not THAT close.

"What about this one?" she asked again, coming out with another skirt.

This one wasn't so bad. It was denim, but not like the hardcore cargo pants denim. It had a very smooth look to it and was faded. It fit tightly around her waist and legs, giving her a sexy, but not slutty look.

"Actually… I like that one," Serj informed, a look of approval on his face.

"Thank god. Now I won't have to hear about my slutty choices of clothing the whole trip," she smarted off again.

Serj rolled his eyes and gestured for her to hurry. She ended up walking out with three bags of clothes, which racked up to a whopping three hundred dollars. Zelda was lucky her brother worked in a recording studio making fifty dollars an hour. This was like pocket change to him.

Now though, it was time for Serj to be able to go crazy with money and have fun. They asked the salesman at the desk where to find the nearest Guitar Center. After writing down the directions, they headed out of the mall to find their car. Granted, it took a half hour just to get to the mall exit, but it's not like they were in a time crunch. It was only one in the afternoon now, giving them another seven hours before the concert started.

Serj thought he was going to shit his pants once the Guitar Center came into view. It was twice the size of every other Guitar Center he had ever seen. He was really just flat-out amazed. The place was the size of a Sears store. He could only imagine how many guitars and amps were jammed into the massive glory store.

He was right. Serj nearly shit his pants the second he took one look inside. The walls were filled with guitars and basses, with amps lined up to the point to where it was like an isle at Wal-Mart. Smiling from ear to ear, he passed the checkout line and headed over to the wall.

Just a sheer look of enjoyment filled his face as he gazed up at the hundreds of high-dollar Fender, Gibson, and Ibanez guitars.

"Told you so," Zelda stated immaturely.

"Shush. I'm enjoying myself," Serj demanded as he picked a guitar up off the wall.

It was an Ibanez. Abalone inlays gave the fretboard a kind of glint to it. The body was a metallic copper, and the bridge was an expensive Floyd Rose. The guitar looked kind of familiar.

"This is the exact same kind of guitar Link had," Serj uttered as his left hand slid down the strings.

"Yeah… it is isn't it…"

Serj picked up the sadness in her voice. He hadn't realized it until recently, but she really did miss him. He decided to just shrug it off and give the guitar a test run. If Link used it, it must be good.

He was not mistaken either. The action was so smooth and clean it was like playing on glass. It was so easy to bend and stretch out the strings that it was insane, and the bridge surprisingly was able to keep the tuning good even through the roughest whammy bar strikes.

"Wow."

"You like it?"

Serj turned to see one of the employee's smiling at him. Serj nodded to him to acknowledge his approval. There was a different aura about this salesman. It kind of seemed like he wasn't trying to push something on you, but just wanted you to walk out happy.

"Yeah, it's pretty nice. My old guitar player used one of these back in the day, but I never got a chance to play it," Serj explained, his eyes not leaving the beauty that lay in his hands.

"I'd have to say that's one of the best guitars we have. I mean, for the style of music I play at least. A lot of it has to do with what you're using if for," the salesman stated.

"Yeah. I haven't seen to many people use an Ibanez unless it's some kind of metal or progressive music," Serj concurred.

"It's fairly cheap for the quality too. Rumor I hear is that that guitar player from this one band… I forgot their name… It was a bunch of high school guys that traveled to New York and put on this big concert…"

"Prototype?" Serj asked, his hopes high.

"Yeah! That's it! It's a shame the guitarist passed away. He really could have been something you know," the salesman replied.

"Yeah, he could have. I was the vocalist for them," Serj said proudly.

"No shit! Wow, never thought I'd meet anyone famous."

"Eh, I'm not that famous. Link was the famous one, and he deserved it. The band still goes on, but it's tough with Link there. He was by far the best guitarist I had ever seen. Actually, part of the reason I'm here is because I'm looking for someone that was as good as him, if not better," Serj explained.

"Ha, I've got just the man for you. Follow me."

Serj shrugged and set the guitar back up on the wall and followed the guy through the aisles back towards one of the counters. He was rather surprised that this guy knew who Prototype was, but it's not like he really care. As long as this guy could give him the hook-up, he could have not given a shit whatsoever.

They followed the salesman back behind the counter and down the hallways to one of the backrooms. Serj could here someone blazing away at a guitar. The song sounded fairly familiar, but he couldn't really make out what it was at first.

Once they were close enough to the door, Serj automatically knew what it was. Falling Through the Shadows… That was an old Prototype song…

The salesman opened the door to reveal a guy around Serj's age shredding the guitar up like he had never seen. This guy had a long, bushy beard and very long scraggily blonde hair. Tattoos lined his arms to the point to where you couldn't see any of his skin. He had earrings, a lip piercing, and his eyebrow was also pierced. He was a fairly buff man, with his loose-fitted t-shirt and baggy jean shorts held up by a belt. He looked like a freak of nature, but god damn could the guy play!

After he finished playing the song, he looked up at Serj, Zelda, and the salesman. Looking a little surprised, he set the guitar down and stood up from his chair.

"James, this guy right here is the vocalist for Prototype. He says he's looking for a badass, so I sent him to you."

"Ah, you play for Prototype huh? That's pretty cool," James greeted as he extended his hand.

Serj didn't really want to shake his hand for two reasons. One: his fingernails were long enough to stab somebody with, and two: he felt a little weird about the guy. I mean, he knew a Prototype song, and was able to pull of Link's riffs like they were child's play. He was actually better than Link by far. Serj never thought he was think that.

"Yeah, my name's Serj," Serj greeted, extending his hand to give James a handshake.

"So, what can I do for you?" James asked, sitting back down in his chair.

"Well, I'd first like to ask you how you know that song," Serj interrogated.

"Actually, that guy Dennis that used to work for you is an old veteran here. He comes her all the time to buy gear, and he egged me on to listen to you guys. So, he gave me a CD of when you guys played in New York City. I really liked what you guys did, so I sat down and figured out a few things," James explained, not at all offended that Serj asked him such a question.

"Oh, I see. So you know Dennis then?"

"Hell yeah man, we go back a good six or seven years… About the same time you guys went to N.Y.C.."

"Well, would you be interested in playing for us? I know it's kind of abrupt and you'd have to relocate, but, if you like what we do, it's yours," Serj proposed.

"Well, um, I don't know. It's a good offer, don't get me wrong, but I'd like to actually sit down with you and talk a bit. What are you doing later tonight?" James asked in a very deep tone.

"I'm hitting up the Austin City limits to see Eric Johnson. I'm free once I get out of there though," Serj told.

"Hell yeah man. EJ is the shit. Well, here's my phone number. Just give me a call when you get out of there and we'll meet up at Chili's or something," James suggested as he pulled out a card from his back pocket and handed it to Serj.

"Alright man, that'll work. I'll call you as soon as I get out of there."

They bid each other farewell and Serj and Zelda left. Serj was pretty damn excited… beyond excited. The only thing that could have made him happier was if Link himself was to come back.

Zelda said nothing on the way back to the hotel however. She stayed very quiet. Even though Serj was constantly talking to her about the new fire he had built up inside of him, she still said nothing. He was a little taken aback by this.

"What's wrong, you should be happy for the band," Serj inquired.

"I am," she lied.

"You suck at lying, as I've said before."

"It's just a bunch of personal issues…"

"Well, come on, talk to me," Serj pressured.

"Honestly… Prototype should be done. I think the band died along with Link. He made that band what it was, and I feel like it was wrong for you guys to keep going without him there. It's just like Led Zeppelin. You guys should have been done the second he was done," Zelda explained, a hint of crying coming forth from her voice.

"You just don't understand. We're going still because we refuse to let Link's death mean nothing. I whish you could understand that," Serj tried to explain again.

"I know, I know. But that guy kept giving me weird looks too…"

"Like what do you mean?" Serj asked.

"He wasn't like… checking me out or anything… But it was like we just connected… Like I know him or something. I don't know, I'm just weird, don't worry about it," she shunned off.

"Yeah, we defiantly don't know him. Somebody that looks like that would be kind of hard to forget," Serj assured.

"Tell me about. The guy is a freak. But… he does know what he's doing on that guitar," Zelda told, looking on the bright side of things.

When they were on their way to the concert, Serj didn't even care about seeing Johnson anymore. He just wanted to hurry up and drop Zelda off at the hotel and go meet up with his new favorite person, James. This guy was his ticket. It wasn't about fame and glory for Serj. It was about carrying on an old friend's dream. Just like Link had put his family's souls to rest, he would do the same for Link.

The concert seemed to drag on and on and on. He enjoyed the hell out of watching Eric Johnson play, but his mind was so distracted with his own band. It was around ten or so when the final song was finished, and Serj wasted no time in hightailing it out of there to drop Zelda off at the hotel.

"Well, good luck," she said, opening up the car door.

"You sure you don't want to go?" Serj asked for the last time.

"I'm sure. This is your time. Besides, it hurts too bad for me."

With that, she stepped out of the car and headed to the hotel door. Serj shook his head a bit and pulled James' number out of his pocket. Quickly dialing the number on his cell phone, he anxiously awaited a response on the other line.

"Hello?"

"Yeah, James?" Serj asked.

"Yes…"

"It's Serj man," he greeted.

"Oh hey man, how was the show?" James asked, eager to hear about EJ.

"It was pretty damn good. Not surprising, is it?"

"Not really. It's Johnson man."

"True that. You about ready to go?" Serj asked.

"Actually yeah. I just got out of the shower and cleaned up and all that good stuff," James explained.

"Cool, cool. Well, I noticed a Chili's just down the road from where I'm at. Did you want to meet up there?" Serj asked.

"That'll work. I live like ten minutes away, so just give me a little while and I'll be there."

"Alright, see you then."

"Cool, later."

Serj flipped his phone shut and began driving back down the street. Remembering that he needed to call Mido and Kafei, he excitedly dialed their numbers and explained the good news to them. They both were fairly excited about it, and also wanted to hear about how things went after he was done talking to this guy James.

By the time Serj got off the phone, he was at Chili's. There was like three parking spaces left, but he didn't care. He wasn't really there to eat, he was there to talk about the band. Quickly rushing in to make sure there were two seats available, he sat down at his booth that was next to a window and flipped through the menu impatiently.

"Can I get you anything to drink sir?" his cute waitress asked as she stepped up next to the table.

"Um… Just get me a bottle of Shiner Brock will you?" Serj ordered.

"Alrighty. Do you know what your friend will want?" she asked.

"Sorry, I have no idea."

"That's fine, I'll be right back with your beer sir."

Serj couldn't help but give a good look at her ass as she walked past him. She was pretty damn cute. She soon came back and set down the ice cold bottle of dark beer in front of him on a coaster. Thanking her for the booze, he looked out the window into the dark lighted city of Austin. This was bound to be one hell of a night.

Just then, a tall figure stepped up to the booth opposite him and took a seat. Serj knew who it was all too well. His new friend James. Looking back down at the menu, he glanced over it a bit more.

"What do you usually get?" Serj asked, his mind not made up at all of what he wanted.

"I usually go with the bacon burger man. That stuff is the shit."

"Nice, I'll think I'll get that too," he stated as he looked up.

He thought he was about to have a heart-attack. James was not sitting in front of him. For that fact, this guy looked nothing like James did.

"I'm fucking dreaming. Holy shit, holy shit…" he panicked, his voice echoing as he repeated himself over and over and over again.

"Dude, chill out man."

Serj grabbed a cigarette from his pocket and stuffed it in his. Fumbling with the light, he finally lit the cigarette and took one long inhale from it. He felt a little better. He wasn't dreaming at all… this was real…

"Link?"

"Yeah, that's me."

Sure enough, it was his old band mate. Link was James. The longer fingernails were still there, as well as the tons of tattoos and the piercings. The super long hair was gone and the beard as well. With all the hair gone, he could see a couple scars on Link's face. Serj knew that was his bad…

Link wore, as always, torn faded jeans, and a tight black Rush t-shirt. His face looked no different than it had six years ago, save for the scars.

"Dude, it's really you?" Serj asked again, still unable to believe his eyes.

"In living color sir," Link replied in his old deep tone.

The waitress came back and Link ordered himself a Bud Light to get himself started. Serj's eyes never left his old friend.

"What the hell dude? This whole time I've thought you were rotting six feet under, but you've been alive this whole time?"

"You didn't go to my funeral, did you?" Link asked as he popped the cap off his beer and took a good swig.

"Uh, no. I never heard anything about it…"

"Well, you couldn't have cared that much then."

"But what happened?"

Serj was more than dying to know how it is that Link was still alive and well. Six years he had thought his old friend was buried somewhere, rotting. But all this time, he was still in the music scene, just not in the limelight anymore.

"Kind of a long story. Well, as you know already, I overdosed. One of my roommates came home sometime after I did that line of cocaine. He freaked out and called the ambulance. Now here's what's crazy about the whole thing. I was dead. The paramedics checked my pulse and couldn't get even the slightest faint of a beat. So, they took me to the ambulance and hooked me up to the machines. I guess on our way to the hospital, my heart just decided to jump back its beat. They ended up just shipping me off to West Texas Rehab up in Abilene. The hospital never bothered to call anyone and let them know what happened. My roommate assumed I was dead since they didn't get a pulse before they took me. I spent a couple years recovering. Once I got out, I didn't know what to do with myself. I didn't want to go back home. I wanted to start a whole new life, leave everything behind me. I tried even giving up guitar playing, but I couldn't. I'm a musician at heart and I always will be I guess. I moved out here to Austin and I've been working at Guitar Center ever since, never letting anyone know who I was," Link finally finished after a very in depth story.

"Wow… all that huh?" Serj replied after intently listening to everything Link had to say.

"Yeah. Kind of explains how it is I know Falling Through the Shadows, huh?" Link laughed a bit.

"Yeah. It certainly does. So what makes things different now though?" Serj asked.

"Well, I guess I'm just tired of living in the darkness. When you and Zelda… uh, when you and Zelda came in looking for a guitarist just to keep the band going, I said, hell why not? You know? I guess it's time for me to get back into the game again," Link said assuring.

"Well. Welcome back," Serj greeted and shook Link's hand.

"Yeah man. It feels good to be back I suppose. Things will be pretty weird for a little while though. Talking to Mido, Kafei… Zelda… Talking to them and seeing how they are over these last few years will be strange. But fuck it. I'm looking forward to what we have ahead of us."

"Fucken A mate." Grabbing his beer bottle, he held it up high. "To many more years of music, and being with old friends again," Serj toasted.

Link held his bottle up Serj's.

"Fucken A."

With a chink of their bottles, they chugged their beers down to the last drop. They stayed there into all hours of the night, just drinking and having a good time. They were both pretty drunk by the time the place closed, but they didn't care. Serj was just glad he not only had a badass guitarist again, but it was LINK!!! Link on the other hand… he was just thinking about Zelda.

She told him six years ago that she didn't love him. Link had offered his heart to her, and she turned him down. Little did he know, Zelda loved him more than he himself loved music….


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Hey guys. Sorry it took me a while to update, I couldn't think straight whenever I wanted to start writing this. I had a tough time writing this chapter, and I'm sure it will be a little different than you are expecting, but I still think you will like it. Special thanks to lordxblade for getting me to want to write this chapter again. If you guys haven't read his newest fic yet titled The Hylian Streets, I highly suggest you read it. Thanks to everyone else for your support, and also to Zebubba. If you lived within 100 miles of me, I'm sure you'd come slap me till I wrote another chapter.

Geddy

Bamboo: Joe Satriani

**Four years ago…**

Thunder clashed across the sky like sheets of fire as the rain pelted down on the cold, cracked ground. Water drenched everything in sight. A thick and eerie fog coated the ground and clouded the air like an airborne poison.

The rain dripped off Link's hair, as though he was in the shower. His ripped jeans clung tightly to his legs and shins, and his shirt was rigid enough to have been apart of his skin. The backpack on his shoulder seemed to bring him down like a ton of bricks as he trudged through endless puddles of water on the side of the street.

"What am I supposed to do?" he asked himself in his head.

He had nowhere to go, nothing to do… He was in a completely new place with not the slightest clue where he was. Abilene…

"Ha, and people don't think there's rain in Texas…" he muttered to himself.

A couple cars passed by him as he ambled along through the dark night, but only to splash even more water on him instead of stopping. Thoughts of the good Samaritan flashed through his mind as he seethed at the passing drivers.

"What am I supposed to do? Who am I now?"

Jumping off the road onto a sidewalk, he made his way through a slightly forested area and found a large tree right in the center of the wood. Heaving his backpack to the soaked grass by the tree, he sat down and leaned up against the hard oak.

Water poured down his face still, making his tears invisible. He was no better now that he was when he first went into rehab. Some rehab…

**Present**

Link vividly reminisced over that night four years ago. A half-burned cigarette was lightly pressed between the first two fingers on his right hand. Rubbing his head with his hand, he began to hate himself a bit.

Things were looking up now. He had his band back, his old life. Basically what he wanted… yet he still sat there in his small house thinking about the past that not a single other person knew of.

If only Serj and them knew what he had been through… He couldn't help but think this thought every day of his life. It was selfish yes, he knew. But why should he care?

Their lives basically went on as normal. Sure, he himself disappeared and allowed them to go on, thinking the whole time that he was gone for good. But his life, and also himself, was totally different now.

He was no who he used to be. He remembered his old reputation all too well, for he envied not having every day: Stud, guitar god, popular, well liked by all. Now look at him…

Thought to be dead for six years, typical low-life American just trying to stay alive. Basically, nobody. But the biggest thing that had changed about Link over the last six years was the greatest thing that could have happened to him: He no longer cared about fame, fortune, or glory. He was satisfied with existence, and music. He didn't care whether or not Prototype got huge or not, but he did want the world to know his music.

As he snuffed his smoke out in a nearby ashtray by the couch, he heard a soft rap on the door. Rubbing his head again, hoping to soothe away his headache, he stood up from his small black leather couch and headed to the door. His baggy hoody kind of swayed with him a bit as he made his way to the front door.

As he unlocked the door and gripped the brass knob, he began to wonder who in the world could be looking for him. Nobody ever came to see him, at least… not anymore.

"Serj?" he stated as he peered through a crack in the door.

"Open up you old hermit, we have shit to do," Serj greeted as he pushed the door open and stepped in.

"Come in…" Link muttered in a sarcastic tone, not that he actually cared.

"How you feeling? You had a lot to drink last night man," Serj asked, referring to their meeting at Chili's only the night before.

"Got a bit of a headache… other than that I'm good. You?" Link replied as he sat himself down on the couch.

"I'm fine."

"Out of sheer curiosity, how the hell did you know where I lived?" Link inquired.

"You gave me your address last night dude…"

"Did I? I don't remember."

"Obviously."

"How did things go with your sister?" Link asked, trying not too seem to eager.

"Well… I didn't tell her about you yet. I'm still trying to get used to the idea myself, you know what I mean?" Serj replied with a raise of his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I suppose I can understand that. Don't tell her though… I want to meet her myself," Link requested.

"No problem man. Actually, she didn't even ask me how everything went come to think of it. Now that I've said that, she didn't say a word to me at all…"

"Why. You guys not getting along?" Link asked as he took a good swig from a nearby glass of ice water.

"We've been fine. It's just that she doesn't agree with us getting another guitarist and trying to do everything we can without you. She feels that you basically were the biggest part of the band, and without you, there is no Prototype," Serj explained, as though he was speaking on his sister's behalf.

"I can see her point," Link joked as he stroked his chin.

"Shut up you stuck up bastard. Listen up. Me and Zel are leaving in two days, so we don't have that much time to get things in order. Mido and Kafei have no idea that you're coming back. They are as clueless as Zelda. Basically, I'm the only person that knows you're still alive…"

"Good. I think a good surprise would do them well," Link replied with a nod of his head.

"Everything's all fine and dandy, except for one thing though… I'm not sure you're going to believe what I'm about to tell you, but,"

"Spill it already," Link snapped impatiently.

"I don't want to play guitar in the band anymore."

"What! Why?"

Serj was right. Link couldn't believe his ears.

"I want to stick to just vocals from now on. So basically, I want to pick up another guitarist. Simple as that, aye mate?" Serj assured.

"Easier said than done. But if that's what you want man, I guess we'll do it. I'm all for it," Link stated, motioning that he had his old friend's back, despite what happened in the past.

"Alright, good. Well, how are planning on getting back up to San Demas?" Serj inquired as he stood up to leave.

"I put in my two weeks at work already, and I'm going to start taking care of the house selling biz. Lucky for me I already paid this piece of shit place off, so it will be pretty easy to sell. You can expect me to be up there in about three weeks to a month I guess," Link informed.

"Cool. Well, you've got my number, so if you need anything feel free to call man."

"Will do," Link thanked as Serj stepped out into the bright sunlight and shut the door, sealing the darkness back into Link's house.

Zelda on the other hand was feeling a little depressed. She sat in her hotel room just watching the Weather Channel. She hated the Weather Channel, but she didn't have anything else to do. She felt like she was back in high school all over again.

Serj ditching her because he had better things to do. And of course, she was left all alone. But she just ignored it. There was no point thinking about things she had no control over. She was shaken from her thoughts as the lock to the door clicked.

She rubbed her eyes a bit as Serj opened the door. Sighing, she gave him a wry smile and continued her staring contest with the TV. Serj knew she wasn't feeling well. Taking off his black leather jacket, he tossed it on the small chair by the window and sat on the bed next to her.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm fine, why?" she lied.

"I've said it before, you're a terrible liar."

"What do you want me to say. You know how I feel about James," she stated, never looking away from the TV.

"I know, I know," he replied, almost not remembering who James was.

"I… I just want to go home."

"Well, we could always leave early. We've got nothing better to do," Serj concurred, trying to cheer her up.

"Do you think you can get earlier tickets?"

"Sure, just let me make a few phone calls."

He stood up from the bed and headed outside to make the arrangements.

"Alright, I'll call you when I'm about to head up there."

"That'll work. See you in a few weeks man."

"Right," Link replied as he sat his large phone back on its hook.

Serj leaving two days early made things a little earlier on him. Now he had nobody to bother him for a little while longer. He loved Serj like a brother, but he often just liked to be alone.

Unfortunately for Link though, he got everything done so quickly that he was ready to leave in just one week. In just one week, he sold his house, all the things he didn't want, and cancelled all of his utilities. He really had no choice… It was time to go.

He had rented a small Uhaul trailer and moved everything he actually wanted into it. He normally wouldn't have driven, but he wasn't about to sell his jet black Camaro. That car brought back a lot of memories, both good and bad.

It was really a long drive to San Demas, but it's not like he cared. That was just more time for him to be alone before he was thrust back into the world of limelight.

The days driving passing slowly, as would be expected. Smoking, eating sunflower seeds, and a shit-load of Mountain Dew were the things that kept him awake and occupied the whole way. Well, save for his music of course. Nothing like some good old Rush to keep your mind spinning.

"I'm actually nervous," Mido stated as he sat down behind his drum set.

"Why?" Serj asked as he turned on the mixing board.

"A new guitarist that we know nothing about coming in. And if he's as good as you say he is, which I have a tough time believing if I might add, then we actually might have to start getting serious again…"

"So, what? You're afraid of getting down to business again?" Serj growled as he stepped into his living room, also known as the studio.

"I didn't say that," Mido contested.

"What would Link say to you if he was here?" Serj interrogated.

"Nothing. He'd punch me," Mido replied.

"Exactly."

Kafei said nothing, as usual, but just leaned up against his barstool with his bass in his arms. He had no opinion at all. So, they got a new guitarist that was supposed to be really good. He would be the judge of that…

Serj grunted as his phone started going off. Fishing around in his pocket, he finally managed to drag out the annoyance and answer the call.

"Hello? Bout' damn time," Serj joked over the phone as he headed down the stairs and out the door.

Mido and Kafei just shrugged at each other. Mido was not enthused about what was going on. He had a bad feeling for some reason. He knew why. It wasn't Link that was playing guitar, that's what. But little did he know, he was far off.

"Man, Mido is like bugging out, it's funny as shit," Serj joked as Link finally turned off his car and stepped out.

"Yeah, that sounds like Mido," Link chuckled.

"You need a hand with anything?" Serj offered.

"No, all I need is my guitar case," Link replied with a wave of his hand.

Serj glanced around the neighborhood nervously as Link fumbled through the keys to find the ones that would unlock the trailer. Alas, he managed to get a hold of them. After digging through the trailer and pulling out his guitar case, he slammed the door back shut and looked at Serj.

"You ready man?" Serj asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be I suppose," Link replied, a glint of fiery enthusiasm in his eyes.

Serj headed up to the door and opened it for Link. Link's heart was racing faster than it ever had. Stepping into the nice house, he breathed the fresh sent of a newly turned on P.A. system. (Strange as it may sound, yes, that does actually have a smell).

Serj bounded up the stairs, while Link slowly followed behind with his guitar case slightly dangling in his hand.

"Alright ladies, welcome your new old guitarist," Serj chuckled.

Mido about fell over onto his snare drum the second Link's head came into view. Kafei himself dropped his bass, which made a very loud and shattering rumbling thud the second it hit the floor.

"Hey guys," Link greeted with a wave.

"Holy shit!" Mido shouted as he bounded across the room and slammed into Link.

Normally this would have been gay, considering Mido threw himself at Link with an embracing hug, but it was just like brothers.

"Is this really fucking happening?" Mido asked as he let go of Link and clutched his hair.

"Told you I found a badass," Serj stated.

"That you did sir, that you did," Kafei agreed as he gave Link a hearty slap on the back.

"Well, Serj decided to cop out on guitar, so we're still on the hunt. We'll deal with all the fucking explaining and bullshit later. For now, let's just fucken play guys," Link stated.

It was like he was the leader all over again as they blasted into some of the old songs they played. Just like old times…


	5. Chapter 5

Alright guys! Here it is! After many grueling and horrible months, I have finally returned with the latest installment to this fic. I've got everything straightened out, so I think you'll really enjoy this chapter!

Geddy

Chapter 5

The morning fog of San Demas rolled in as Link had always remembered. It seemed to coat the entire earth in a thick veil which you cut with a knife. Link yawned a bit as he got up off the couch, the smell of fresh coffee filling his nostrils.

Glancing out the window into the gloomy blanket, he was able to smile, for once. It was just like old times it felt. Like he was back in high school with his friends again, just kicking back and having a good time.

He turned around, nearly tripping over all of the speaker cables and music gear scattered about Serj's living room. Serj wasn't too terribly tidy when it came to his equipment. Link cracked another smile as he realized that Serj had barely changed.

Link scuffed his feet on the floor as he made his way into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes the whole way. He knew Serj was awake already. For one, coffee doesn't make itself, and he could hear the slight clatter of dishes in the sink. As he stepped into the fluorescent lit kitchen, he nearly swallowed his heart when he realized it was Zelda.

She didn't seem to notice him however, as her back was turned to him washing dishes. Link cleared the dry lump in his throat and cleared his airways. Zelda turned and glanced at him quickly, but simply turned back to the dishes and continued scrubbing them.

Link frowned a bit. He wasn't expecting that reaction, but his thoughts were cut when Zelda suddenly stopped scrubbing. She slowly turned her head around her shoulder and stared into Link's eyes from a distance. Her mouth dropped and her eyes widened.

"Oh my god, I'm dreaming…" she said in a squeamish, quiet voice.

"Um, no, you're not," Link replied, a smile spreading across his gruff face, the scars lifting up like miniature grins of their own.

"You're… You're dead…"

"Sorry to disappoint. I can go kill myself if you'd like," he joked.

Zelda dropped everything she was doing and lunged at him, her arms wrapping around his neck. She buried her head into his chest and began sobbing hysterically. Link put his arms around her back and held her tight. He could feel the gentle tears soaking into his white, ragged t-shirt.

"You're alive!" she stated in between gulps.

"Yeah, I am. You're not the only one that was surprised," Link reminisced, thinking of the other reactions.

"I don't even care how, I'm just so glad you're here," she said with glee, her teary, emerald green eyes peering up at him.

"You miss me?" he asked with a chuckle.



"Shut up and kiss me," she ordered.

Suddenly, Link felt her soft, warm lips on his. He closed his eyes and pulled her in even tighter. He had thought Zelda didn't want him like that, but he wasn't going to complain. Over the last several years, Link had learned to let go of her, but his heart still bled everyday being away from the beauty. Breaking the kiss, Zelda just looked up at him again, the tears still pouring down her rosy cheeks.

Link wiped the tears from her checks and dried her eyes with her thumb. She closed her eyes as he ran his hand over her face. It was exactly how she wanted it. It felt perfect again.

"I thought you didn't love me," Link inquired.

"I… I lied. And I don't know why. But when you died… well, disappeared, I wanted to kill myself for not telling you the truth. I'm so sorry for everything."

"It's in the past now, don't worry about it. Serj has grown up now, so there shouldn't be any problems," Link explained with a chuckle.

"You want to be with me? Even after all I put you through?" she asked.

"Of course I do. I've always loved you…"

Zelda smiled and hugged him again. Link rested his chin on her head, smelling the beautiful scent of her hair. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Serj standing at the outside of the kitchen, leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed. Link smirked a little bit.

"Nice boxers," Link complimented sarcastically, noting that he had on Scooby-Doo boxers.

"Hey, don't talk shit about Scoob!" he retorted; a very serious look spreading across his face.

Zelda laughed and looked at her brother, a look of sheer joy on her face. Serj walked passed them and grabbed a coffee cup from the cabinet, but he suddenly seemed very irritated and set down the cup in an angry manner. He turned and glared bullets at his sister.

"Decaf?! What is this?! There's no point in drinking coffee if it's decaf!" he snarled in his usual joking manner.

"Ha, I'm sorry," she replied sheepishly.

"That's like drinking Kool-Aid without sugar! Damn it, I guess I'm stuck with my morning beer," he shot back as he reached for the fridge.

"Oh shame," Link said sarcastically.

"Pipe down lover boy, you and I have plenty of work to do today. Practice last night was good, but we need to start searching for another guitar player, start booking shows, and begin writing new material. 

We're going to get together with the guys for lunch, so go take a shower dude… You smell like a lawn mower," he explained, with a look of disgust.

It didn't take long for Link to take a shower and get changed. As he had always done, Link slipped on a pair of ratty old jeans and a tight pitting black t-shirt. Serj had apparently set up their meeting at a local restaurant that supposedly was to make the best steaks in California.

Link rode with Serj up there, wanting to give his car a bit of a break from the long drive. He grabbed his CD's however; as he had broadened his musical variety into things that Serj wasn't at all into.

"What the hell are you putting in?" Serj asked as Link pushed a CD in the CD player.

"Dimmu Borgir. Don't criticize, just listen," Link snapped as he turned up the volume.

Serj's expression made Link crack up. Serj had never really listened to any form of black metal, so it was a lot different for him. Link wasn't at all surprised however, as black metal was a commonly hated style of music.

By the time they got to the restaurant, Serj was really enjoying the band. They both agreed that their musical roots would never change, but they wanted to branch out and find new types of music to influence them.

Mido and Kafei were already waiting for them with a table. The restaurant had a bit of a Texas feel too it, which Link was more than used to at this point. It seemed as though none of them wanted to fool around, but get straight to business. Having worked at Guitar Center, Link had a lot more insight on how the music scene worked than the other three did.

"Look, the biggest cash cow of California is L.A... If we can get into a few good places in L.A., we're set. For Christ sake, Billy Sheehan goes through there all the time to the Yamaha custom shop to work on his basses," Link explained, being very firm with his opinion.

"I understand that, but on the other hand we have to start out small for now," Kafei defended.

"I agree, but not to the extent to where we end up as a bar band that plays covers all the time and doesn't go anywhere. I'm all fine with bands that want to do that, but that's not what we're here to do. We can set up some local shows here in San Demas and a few in the surrounding areas, just so we can get used to being on stage and shit like that again. The first thing we need to do is pick up another guitarist though, which won't be easy around this town," Link enlightened further.

"Any suggestions on where to get one? I mean, I had to go down to Austin to find Link, and it was pure luck that that happened," Serj said.

"I have an idea, don't worry about that…" Link assured.



After getting their food and chowing down, Link was a little frustrated. He had nearly forgotten about how aggravating the music business was. It had to been dealt with if anyone wanted to make it big though. There was always a lot of bullshit to deal with, but it came with the job.

When they returned back to Serj's house, Link jumped in his car quickly.

"Where you headed off to?" Serj asked.

"You remember that old music store that I met you at?" Link asked.

"Um, yeah, what about it?"

"That's where."

Serj rolled his eyes as Link started his car and drove off. Link wasn't the speed demon he was when he was back in high school. The older you get, the more you realize that showing off won't get you anywhere.

He cruised down the familiar streets of his home town, grooving on the African style of Paul Simon's Graceland album. It was kind of funny to hear Link listening to it, considering the piercings and all the tattoos.

He soon caught sight of the music shop. It hadn't changed a bit it seemed. Link slowly made his way up to it and found the nearest parking spot to the door. The heat was blistering outside it felt. The second he stepped out of the car, sweat seemed to soak his forehead.

The air conditioned air was like heaven on his skin; the sweat immediately drying as he stepped into the cool store. He pulled his sunglasses off his face and slipping them over the collar of his shirt. He could already hear someone in the back room shredding away on a guitar. The playing style was definently metal oriented, which was perfect.

Link made his way back to the guitar section slowly, his ears attentive to what the guitarist was doing with the instrument. He was rather impressed. Whoever it was could sweep tap like it was easy, and Link had mastered that technique. The surprise shot up even further when he peered into the room and saw who was playing.

It was a girl… A little tiny blonde who didn't look like she could even play a single chord, and yet she was tearing the guitar to shreds with blinding speed. Link's eyes widened as he watched her. He knew she had to be young, early twenty's at the most. What made it stranger is that she was actually cute.

Link stepped up in front of her and watched her play. He could tell that she was trying to play For the Love of God by Steve Vai, but she was having a really tough time with the quick sweeps during the solo. Link remembered memorizing that song in high school…

She suddenly became very irritated and sighed heavily, setting the guitar on her lap. She looked up at Link, all her facial piercings jiggling with her movement.



"Steve Vai is too good," she stated with a sound of disappoint, her voice very high pitched and sweet.

"Here, let me give it a go," Link said, holding out his hand.

She handed him the very nice Gibson Flying V. Link grabbed a nearby bar stool and sat down, digging a pick out of his pocket. He closed his eyes and let his fingers do the rest of the work, nailing every note without even a sweat. The girl sat there with a look of amazement on her face.

Link finished and handed the guitar back to her.

"Oh my god! You're Link!" she exasperated.

"Uh, yeah… Do I know you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, no, I don't think so. But, I used to go to all of Prototypes local shows here in San Demas when I was young. I always thought you were like… God! So I started playing guitar after I saw you play one show, and… Oh my god, this is such an honor!"

"Ha, well thank you, I appreciate that," he thanked; utterly surprised that he had influenced someone to get that good.

"Is there any way you could give me guitar lessons? I'll pay you fifty bucks an hour," she asked, excitement filling her voice.

"I've got a better idea. Prototype is reforming, but Serj doesn't want to play guitar anymore. He just wants to stick to vocals. If you play guitar for us, I'll give you free lessons whenever you want," he offered.

"Oh my god… Yes! Yes of course I'll do it! Are you serious!?"

"Dead serious. Here's my number," Link replied as he jotted down his number on a blank piece of paper he had stuffed in his pocket.

"Wow…" the girl gasped.

"We practice tomorrow night. If you'd like, you can come over tonight and meet the guys, and I'll begin working with you on guitar parts."

"Ok! Oh, my name is Rikku by the way," she said as she held out her hand.

"Rikku? That's a cool name… Well, give me a call here in about two hours or so, ok? I'll give you directions on how to get there," Link stated as he stood up.

"I'll do that. Thanks so much Link! This is like my dream!"

Link smiled at her and headed out the store to his car. He was pretty excited about this girl. She seemed to have a great attitude, and she was really easy to work with. Not to mention the fact, it would be kind of cool to have a girl in the band. They would get noticed more.



"A girl, are you serious?" Serj stuttered in disbelief.

"Yeah. She's got a good attitude, and she's pretty damn good. No offense man, but she's probably better than you are," Link explained with a chuckle.

"Ha ha, real fucking funny Link. Well, I'll trust your judgment. You haven't let me down before. When do we meet her?"

"I went ahead and invited her over tonight to meet everyone. I thought it would be a good idea to have her know everyone before practice tomorrow. I'm also going to work with her on the guitar parts," Link replied.

"Alright, well… I'll get a hold of Kafei and Mido then. Get their lazy no good asses up here and do something useful," Serj stated jokingly as he stood up from the couch in the living room and went to grab his phone.

Zelda sat down next to Link with a bowl of popcorn. She curled up against him as Link but his arm around her.

"Is she single?" Zelda asked as she dipped into the bowl of popcorn.

"I'm not sure… Why?" Link asked curiously.

"Serj needs a girlfriend. I'm tired of him being a little bitch," Zelda replied, pressing buttons on the remote to begin the movie on the big screen.

Link laughed a little at what she said.

"I'm not joking," she stated.

"I know, that's why it's so funny," Link replied, still chuckling.

"Give me a kiss," she demanded in a sweet tone.

Link obliged, and cuddled with her more as the credits began to roll for The Boondock Saints. The sun was beginning to set now; a radiant orange light spreading over the gorgeous green landscape of the secluded neighborhood.

"Alright, they said they'll be here around nine or so. But um, say Link…" Serj trailed off.

"Sup?"

"Is this chick hot?" Serj asked.

"She's pretty cute," he replied honestly.

Zelda cleared her throat and gave Link the "excuse-me-look".



"What?! She's a cute girl. She's like five feet tall, long blonde hair, piercings… She's attractive! Do you want me to lie and say she's hideous?" Link defended himself against the stare of Zelda.

"Well good... Is she single?" Serj prodded further.

"God damn it, I hate being the middle man," Link muttered.

Serj grinned a bit and grabbed a couple beers from the fridge. He sat down in his recliner after handing Link a beer of his own.

The day had flown by fast for Link it felt. Granted, he slept till eleven, so that was a waste of half his day, considering he was used to getting up at four in the morning on a very consistent basis.

Kafei and Mido showed up at the time they had said, and Rikku called just moments before they walked in. Link had given her the directions, so they all patiently waited for her to show up. It didn't take long before they saw a little blue Cavalier pull up to the house.

"There she is," Link stated as he stood up from the couch and headed to the front door.

Link wasn't mistaken at all about Rikku… She WAS small, 5'2 at the most. She had very small arms and legs, and her beady little blue eyes glistened in the moonlight. She had several piercings: snake bites on her lip, bother of her eye brows were pierced, on one her tongue, and too many to count on her ears. She wore a tight pair of shredded blue jeans, a lot like Link's, as well as a fishnet shirt with a Slipknot band t-shirt over the fishnet. Her nails were painted black, and her wrists were covered with loose, black studded leather wrist bands.

"Hey Rikku," Link greeted, pushing the door open wider to let her in.

"Hey Link!" she replied joyfully.

Link slowly closed the door behind her and showed her the way up the stairs.

"Alright, the little buff guy in the corner is our drummer Mido." Mido waved after he was introduced. "And the tall dude with the long hair is Kafei, the bassist." Kafei simply nodded. "And of course, old Serj over there with the beer in his hand."

"How you doing?" Serj asked as he shook her hand.

"I'm great, thank you!" Rikku replied in her cheery little voice.

"Oh, and that's my girl Zelda right there on the couch," Link finished as he pointed to Zelda.

"Thank god there's another girl around here to help me keep these boys in check," Zelda joked as she stood up and shook Rikku's hand.

"Oh, they can't be that bad," Rikku joked back.

"So uh, Rikku… How old are you anyways?" Mido asked, noticing that she looked like she was sixteen.



"I'll be twenty-one at midnight!" she replied excitedly.

"Well, I guess we're throwing a birthday party tonight!" Zelda stated.

"Fuck yeah, let's get wasted!" Mido showed as he grabbed a beer from the fridge.

"Sounds good to me," Serj said with a chuckle at Mido's comment.

"Well Rikku, this is the perfect way to get cool with everyone here. If you can hang with us on drinking, you're in," Link joked.

"Hell yeah, so, what can we get for your birthday?" Zelda asked.

"Pack of smokes, a twelve pack of Shiner Bock, and a small bottle of ever clear," Rikku replied, very assertively.

"Well god damn, I like her already. Bottom's up!" Mido complimented with a great chug of his beer.

Serj ran out and grabbed a tone of beer and smokes for everyone. Of course, he grabbed what had been specified by Rikku. They spent the whole night just chilling, playing drinking games, and making fun of Serj.

"Man, it doesn't matter what comes up in a conversation, I always end up being dragged under the fucking bus!" Serj growled as he took a puff out of his cigarette.

"Would you like some cheese or crackers to go with your wine?" Link shot off.

"Yeah… Hey Serj, when you're done being a little bitch, let us know," Mido doubled teamed.

Serj just shrugged his shoulders and smiled, taking a sip out of his beer.

"Oh come on now! I think he's a sweetheart," Rikku said in defense of Serj, giving him a big hug.

Link gave Serj the "fucking-go-for-it-or-I'll-kick-your-ass" look. Serj rolled his eyes and hugged her back.

They wound up throwing in some music for the party, which spiced it up a lot. Pantera seemed to be the favorite of all drunken people who loved metal music. All in all, the night was great. They all ended up pretty drunk, and everyone fell in love with Rikku. Link knew that he had made a smart choice.


	6. Chapter 6

Alright guys, this is a short, boring chapter. I had originally written it as part of ch6, but I didn't feel that it was a good way to end the chapter. Thanks for all the support guys. Also, if you would like to contact me directly, check it out:

www. myspace. com /filthydimmu666

this is my direct myspace. Do not forget to leave reviews, for that is the fuel I use to keep the juices flowing. I am also giving guitar and bass lessons both over the internet and in person. If anyone is interested, let me know. But back to the original point, enjoy the fic.

Geddy

Link woke up the next morning surprisingly not hung over. Although, the extremely bright sunlight that burst through the window burned his eyes something terrible. He quickly jumped up off the couch and shut the shades, relieving his eyes of the scorching beam.

He yawned heavily and stretched his arms. It felt as though if he stretched any further, his arms would fall off and flop around on the ground. As he turned around to head for the kitchen, he nearly stumbled over Mido, who was sprawled out on the floor like a rug.

Link stared down at him, as though Mido could hear his thoughts. Shrugging his shoulders, he stepped on Mido's back, causing the drummer to gasp for air and wake with a jolt. Link kept walking like nothing happened, even though a smirk spread across his face.

"Fuck man… What time is it?" Mido asked.

"It's almost eleven," Link replied.

"Oh shit… I'm lucky I don't have a hangover man. I drank way too much," Mido stated as he climbed to his feet.

"Well, that's probably because you spent three hours wrapped around the toilet spewing your guys out," Link chuckled as stuffed a filter into the coffee machine.

"Funny, very funny. Actually, where's Rikku at? I hope she didn't drive home," Mido inquired, a little concerned.

"Her car is still out there, so she should be around here somewhere…"

Link dumped several scoops of coffee into the filter and turned on the machine. He was hungry, but way too lazy to cook anything at that point in time. He figured he would wait for Zelda to get up anyways. Link had become a terrible cook over the years. He laughed at the fact that he could ruin cereal. Pathetic…

"I'm going to go check on Serj," Mido informed, rubbing his messy, bright orange hair.

"Alright," Link replied as he started picking up beer bottles and throwing them away.

Link knew he had drunk more than his fair share. He wasn't hung over, but the high pitched clink of the bottles smacking together felt like he was right in front of a blasting horn. He snatched up all the ash trays after he was finished scouting for bottles and threw all the butts and ash into a trash bag. He wasn't sure whether or not Serj normally would smoke in his house, but he guessed last night it was.

"Dude!"

"What?" Link asked as he turned around to see Mido.

"Check it out!" Mido whispered again.

"Why the fuck are we whispering again? Ah yes, it must be because the Nazi's are just downstairs…" Link smarted off as he followed Mido down the hallway towards the bedrooms.

He took a quick look into Zelda's room to see if she was ok. Thankfully, she was sound asleep. Link sighed in relief as he continued to trail Mido.

"Look…" Mido ordered, peering through a cracked door.

Link rolled his eyes and looked into the room. He rolled his eyes again.

"Where are you going?" Mido whispered again as Link turned and headed back down the dim hall.

"I have shit to clean up," Link shot off.

"Dude, did you not see that?"

"Yes, I saw Rikku in bed with Serj, and she was bare ass naked. It's no big fucking deal dude, I'm actually kind of glad that Serj finally got laid," Link stated as he picked up some more trash.

Mido was far pushier about it than Link was. It was almost like he acted as though he had dirt on Serj to use against him now. Link found this funny, considering that having sex with a hot girl wasn't anything to be ashamed of.



It seemed as though it took forever for everyone else to get up. Mido took off and went home early, and Link just sat up on the computer trying to book shows. He had been pretty lucky thus far, as he had already booked three shows for the next month. As he was sitting there typing, he heard a very faint footstep move across the carpet. Glancing into the computer screen, he was able to see reflection of Rikku trying to sneak down the steps and leave.

"Where do you think you're going?" Link asked, not taking his eyes of the screen.

"How did you know I was there?" she groaned.

"I have my ways. Come here," Link demanded as he typed away.

Rikku whined a little bit and walked over to Link's side. She knew that Link had seen her, and she knew she was majorly busted. Link turned away from the computer and looked at her straight in the eyes.

"I haven't worked with you on guitar parts yet," Link said coldly.

"Oh god… You scared me! I thought you were mad or something!" Rikku sighed.

"I saw you and Serj, but I frankly don't care. It's none of my business. Go home and freshen up and grab your guitar gear and come back over," Link told.

"Ok…" she said sheepishly as she turned and walked out of the house.

Over the next several hours, was able to teach Rikku all of the rhythm parts for the original songs, and told her what cover songs they would do. She picked up on it very quickly, but she was pretty low on gear. She only had two stomp pedals and a small, Marshall fifteen watt amp. Her Paul Alander signature guitar was great, however. Link agreed to help her with buying some more equipment and sent her on her way.

Zelda and Serj really hadn't done anything except for sitting around watching TV, and Link never even noticed Kafei leave. Basically, the entire day felt like a complete waste. The once sunny atmosphere of the neighborhood had turned into a misty, gray gloom.

Link was tired of being awake (as strange as that might sound…). Clearing his throat, he headed back to Zelda's room and lied down on her bed. He fell asleep immediately. He had never been more bored and gloomy in his life. The wearing effects of the booze and the muggy weather weighed him down like a car on paper.

He awoke in the middle of the night feeling very hot and sweaty. He went to move, but felt as though someone has stapled his arm and shoulder down to the bed. Realizing that Zelda was cuddled up with him in bed, he simply threw the blanket off him and brought her closer to him. He really had missed her, and now wondered if he was a moron for disappearing for all that time. It didn't matter now though. Everything was falling into place so perfectly. Almost too perfectly…

The next day was great. Rikku came over and they worked on several covers first, just to get familiar with each other's playing style more. Link let Rikku take all the leads in the songs, since she needed more practice than he did. However, he took over the leads on the original pieces. Rikku was good, but she wasn't able to do eight-finger tapping and the crazy stuff Link was able to do with a whammy bar and effects.

The days began to pass so quickly Link felt like he was just waking up and then going back to sleep. He and Zelda really hadn't spent very much time together, since the band had been working on so many songs and writings. He felt as though he was making up for it by taking her to dinner and a movie the day before their first show.

Link had gotten lucky in that he managed to book the Phoenix Club there in San Demas. The venue was great, with a massive stage and always a good crown turnout. The advertisement for Prototype's return was posted seemingly everywhere. Link was getting hits on their website nonstop. He was barely able to keep all of it tied down with how busy the system was. The most common question was: "who did you replace Link with?" Every time, he simply just sent a reply saying: "come to the show and find out."

It was more of a business tactic than anything else. If people were curious about whom the members were, they would be itching to go to the show to see who the lineup was. The date with Zelda passed quickly, and suddenly Link found himself in the club watching the openings bands. He wore a hoodie to keep himself disguised. The last thing he needed is all of the publicity before going on stage.

Link had been feeling so strange about life lately however… Things had just seemed to fly by so quickly… Nothing made sense. He had been so busy he couldn't remember what Zelda's name was half the time. He knew that after this show, he needed to take a break. He wasn't young like he was when the band was first getting big.



Shaking his hands to loosen them up, he watched as the last act began playing their last song. There were over six hundred people in the club, and everyone was there to see Prototype. Link recognized a lot of people from his school. A lot of them looked way different, and were either married or working a very successful job.

He took note of few good old friends of his out in the crowd that he wanted to talk to after the show. He began having flashbacks of high school, both good and bad. He remembers how scary it was trying to hide his relationship with Zelda from Serj, and he vividly remembered being thrown out of a hotel window and breaking bones.

Regardless of what happened, Link was fired back up. It was a brand new, stronger, better, and downright more powerful Link. With his new ink and piercings, he knew that his guitar playing would put the crowd in awe more than ever before. With Rikku backing him up on guitar, Link knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that nobody was going to be able to handle the fresh Prototype…


	7. Chapter 7

Serj had taken the liberty to hire several roadies to set the equipment up on stage. As the previous band cleared off, the roadies quickly began hauling amps and drum pieces up onto the substantial arena. They had all pitched in to help Rikku out with a new rig.

Link had helped her construct it mostly, since he was more than qualified about guitar gear. The roadies heaved Rikku's huge Peavey amps up the stairs as well as her power heads and pre-amps. Link's gear was the most expensive by far, as he used VHT. He had two VHT full stack amps, which almost seemed like a wall of sheer sound. Just his power amps alone cost over three thousand dollars apiece, and all of his Boss pedals racked up to at least a thousand easy. Basically, Link's gear was worth over ten thousand dollars easy.

The roadies were very quick at getting all of the cabs hooked up and the drums pieced together. Link sat in the backstage room warming up with his Ibanez JSR7000 guitar. It was painted chrome, reflecting every bit of movement it caught. Rikku was pacing back and forth nervously across the concrete floor, scuffing her feet as she went.

Link didn't put much stock into dressing up for shows nearly as much as he used to. He just had his piercings in as always, with a skin tight, sleeveless black shirt, and a pair of Tripp pants. The chains on his pant dangled and chinked together whenever he moved.

Rikku on the other hand went all out. She wore very tight black leather pants, and her usual fishnet shirt. Instead of putting a shirt over it like she normally did, she just wore a black bra under it, showing off her sexy midriff and back. Her nails were painted fresh black, and she swapped out a few of her piercings with studs. Her makeup was extravagant to say the least; the black coal powder bringing her bright blue eyes to shine more than before.

"Here you go Link," said one of the roadies as he handed Link a wireless pack.

Link took it and plugged it into his guitar, shoving the receiver into his pack pocket. After locking his strap in place, he was ready to go on, but Rikku seemed to be having a bit of a tough time with her wireless.

"What's the deal?" Link asked; a hint of humor in his tone.

"My pack is picking up the signal," she replied worriedly.

Link snatched the receiver from her and pressed a few buttons. He smiled at her and handed the box back. She rolled her eyes a little before putting it into her pocket.

"You ready?" Serj asked, walking backstage with Mido and Kafei behind him.

"Let's do this shit," Link replied with a nod.

"Alright, I'll see you guys up there," Mido stated with a click of his drum sticks.

Serj followed Mido up onto the stage, the screaming from the crowd getting louder just from the sight of them. Serj grabbed his mic as Mido sat down behind his flame red Tama StarClassic set. Mido started a drum roll just as Rikku and Kafei came on stage, striking a solid chord to kick off the show.

"How the fuck are we doing tonight San Demas?!" Serj roared, his thunderous growl crushing into the club.

Rikku and Kafei kept the same simple chord going at a fast pace, while Mido kept his feet moving with the bass drum and his hands working on bashing the cymbals.

Link stood offstage out of sight. He cranked the volume up on his guitar and started shredding, his fingers flying over the rosewood board at lightning speed.

"Alright! We're back finally after a long time, and we've got new and familiar faces around! The man on the drums, Mido!"

The crowd roared in excitement as Mido spiced up his drum beat a little bit.

"Over here on bass is old Kafei!" Serj continued, the crowd growing louder as Kafei thumped away with some great licks.

"I am of course Serj as you all know, but I've stepped away from guitar, and handed it over to the cutie in the corner… Rikku! Let me fucking hear you out there!" Serj demanded as Rikku started her own little solo, tearing through the strings like wildfire, her blonde hair swinging with her hair movement.

Mido, Kafei, and Rikku stopped playing and the room became silent.



"Now, I know that many of you have had your doubts about Prototype since Link left… And a lot of you have been wondering who has been his replacement. Well, the way I see it, there's no need to get rid of a member of a family, we just added one… LET'S WELCOME BACK LINK ON LEAD GUITAR!!"

Link stepped out on stage, his guitar gleaming in the many different lights. The crowd went nuts like they had never heard before. Link looked out at the crowd as he began the first song with a blazing guitar lick.

The songs blew by quick, but no one moved from their spot, but just stared at the new Prototype in awe. Link was a lot better now than he had been six years previous, and no one was ready for it. They were all in admiration as his fingers swept up and down the fret board like spiders, the notes so accurate and clean it was sick.

Link never missed a note. He was a perfectionist beyond measure, and it showed in his playing. The new songs they had come up with were far better than the old material, but the old stuff was classic to all of the Prototype fans.

"Alright now, this is going to be our last song for the evening. We'd like to thank you all for coming out and supporting us and the rest of the bands. Here's an old Prototype song that Link wrote solely on his own that we all love to perform. This is called Falling through the Shadows."

The song was killer. Link hadn't seen a moshpit like that since his last Slipknot concert. It was rejuvenating to watch the crowd go crazy over their music. Link had always known what he had was good, but he never knew what he had lost until that moment when he struck the last note in the song.

The remainder of the night he was bombarded by questions and people everywhere. It was getting to the point to where he was getting a little pissed off. He had never received so much attention, and he hated it with a passion. After the novelty of his return had worn off, everyone just went back to drinking and having a good time. Link sat back and chilled with some of his old friends, not really in the mood for drinking.

The roadies had broken down all of the equipment and loaded it all into the cases for transport. Link watched them do it attentively, making sure they didn't damage any of his gear. As he went to step outside to open up the trailer so they could begin loading, he suddenly realized it was raining.

"Fuck…" he groaned.

He turned back into the club and told the roadies not to unload anything until it stopped raining. The last thing he needed was their equipment getting destroyed.

"Hey man, have you seen Zelda? I can't find her anywhere," Link asked Serj.

"She went home dude; said she had a headache…"

"Why does this always happen?" Link grunted, his eyebrows cocking oddly.

"What do you mean?"

"Whenever we have a badass fucken show, bad shit always happens afterwards. I need to spend time with Zelda, but I'm not leaving this equipment here with these roadies. I don't trust anyone except the band with my shit," Link explained, annoyed.

"Yeah, it's a shame haven't been thrown out a window yet," Serj shot back smugly.

Link glared at him, but Serj knew it was a joking stare.

"Dude, relax man. Go ahead and go. I'll stay here until the rain lets up and help them load everything into the trucks. I'll stay the night if I have to man, don't worry about it," Serj ushered, motioning for Link to leave.

"Alright… Thanks man. I hope you can hold off all these fans long enough for me to get to my car," Link chuckled with a grimace.

"That's what Mido's for. All he has to do is pull his pants down and everyone will die laughing."

Link laughed heartily at Serj's joke towards Mido's manhood. He bid his farewell and headed out into the rain, the fresh scent filling his nose. He jogged slightly to his car; water splashing up from the pavement into his shoes. He fumbled with the soaking keys before he managed to pull out the right one.

At this point he was even more annoyed, mostly with himself.



"Why the hell didn't I get my keys out before I got soaked?" he asked himself.

Turning the ignition of the old Camaro, he headed out to the streets, his turn signal pulsating through the pouring rain. He realized as he slowly drove down the slippery road that he really needed to replace his wiper blades. Huffing in frustration to himself, he turned the heater on turned up the stereo a little.

He grinned a bit as he heard "The Dance of Eternity" by Dream Theater start. It was one of his favorite songs of all time. Strangely enough, it was the bass solo in the song that made him like it so much, not the guitar parts. As Link listened to it, he realized that Prototype was missing something huge… Something that would make them way better than they were.

He hadn't recognized it in his younger days, but now that age had caught up to him, he realized how self-centered he was. It seemed like Prototype was all about himself. Neither Mido nor Kafei got solo's, and they were both phenomenal musicians. He intended to change that soon enough…

Link pulled up to Serj's house, as the rain began to slow down to a slight drizzle. He regretted not parking closer to the curb when his foot sank deep into the water as he stepped out of the car. He rolled his eyes and quickly made his way through the damp grass to the front door. He barged in as though he was police officer on a drug raid.

Zelda jumped when she heard the door fly open and slam shut quickly.

"Who is that?" she inquired from the top of the stairs, unable to see who came in the door.

"It's me."

"Who's me?" she inquired.

Link stepped up to the top of the stairs; water dripping down like a shower head.

"Did you have fun swimming?" Zelda smirked, covering her mouth with her hand as she laughed at him.

"Funny, very funny. I'm going to jump in the shower and change clothes," he stated, rubbing his hand through his sopping wet hair.

"You sure you need a shower?"

"Oh shut up," Link joked as he walked down the hallway.

He stepped into the bathroom and flipped on the light. It was difficult for him to get his shirt off; the water had stuck it to his skin something terrible. Link hated jeans when they were wet, and he snarled under his breath a bit as he uncomfortably took them off.

After tossing his clothes in a nearby hamper, he turned on the warm water in the shower. As most people do, he stood outside the tub and let his hand judge the temperature of the water before getting in (don't deny it, we ALL do that, lol).

As the warm water rushed over his freezing body, he closed his eyes and pulled the shower curtain shut, absorbing the soothing water into his bitter skin. He just stood there for a moment, not reaching for shampoo or anything, but just relaxed. The show had taken its toll on his muscles. His back especially had taken a beating.

After several moments of just standing there, he finally pulled his shaggy hair back and rubbed the water out of his eyes. He turned to grab shampoo, but as he did, he noticed through a crack in the shower curtain that the door to the bathroom was open a little bit. Link shrugged a bit and grabbed the bottle of shampoo.

He turned to get closer to the stream of water and saw Zelda in front of him, her hair soaked and her body bare.

"Do you have any idea how easy it would be to kill you in the middle of the night?" she said smugly, her golden hair scraggily yet still gorgeous.

Link grinned at her a bit and looked down at the tub floor.

"Are you planning on killing me?" Link asked.

"No, not at all," she replied, taking a step towards him and putting her arms around his neck.

Link put his hands down on her undressed waist and pulled her in close, her breasts pressing up against his chest. He moved forward and kissed her, the steamy water running between their lips like vines. His hands ran up and down her waist and sides, feeling around all of her perfect 

curves. Zelda opened her mouth and allowed his tongue to massage hers. She leaned into him a little bit and let her hands slide down his muscley abs and chest. Link was surprised that she just jumped into it with him, but he wasn't about to complain.

His hand skimmed over her breasts and down to her butt, gripping it and pulling her in even tighter. She moaned a bit as he massaged her breasts and ran his other hand through her hair. She couldn't hold back anymore… It had been six years since she had even seen Link, and she knew they were long overdue.

Her hand moved from his abs down further and began stroking his manhood. Link hadn't been expecting that from Zelda, but he just went with it, giving her the same pleasure by kneading the crevice between her legs.

The passion elevated as Link lightly pressed her up against the wall as he kissed her neck. She moaned more and continued to stroke him as he massaged her neck with his lips. Without her even noticing, Link moved in close and pressed his manhood inside her. Zelda arched her back and neck against the shower walls and groaned loudly. She grabbed his hair and pulled her chest up to his as she felt him sliding in and out of her.

Zelda had wanted this day to happen for six years, but she had never expected it. It was so much more than just a good fuck, it was Link. She had needed him for so long, and now that he had returned, she wasn't going to let him go.

The sex continued for an extensive time, and Zelda had never felt any better. Link finally finished and wrapped his arms around her, holding her as she panted into his chest.

"Wow…" she gasped.

"Yeah… wow…" Link echoed.


End file.
